French TGV Network Development · principles: dedicated line for passenger traffic, compatibility...

40 Years of High-speed Railways

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Japan Railway & Transport Review 40 • March 200522 Copyright © 2005 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

French TGV Network Development

Jean-Pierre Arduin and Jincheng Ni

Past TGV Developments

The 1981 opening of the French TGV Sud-Est linking Paris and Lyon was a milestonein both the history of transportation andthe history of railways with similarimportance to the 1964 unveiling of theshinkansen in Japan. Since that first ‘bullettrain,’ high-speed rail has continued toenjoy great technical and commercialsuccess in all countries that have adoptedthe technology. Not only is high-speedrail fast, it has also proved to be a safe,comfortable and efficient transport modefor the general population. In short, it hasrevitalized railway transport and hasbecome a symbol of modern society.High-speed rail is a well-proven systemthat has become a landmark in worldtransport and railway history. The TGVSud-Est was Europe’s first high-speedline and there is no doubt about theTGV’s technical excellence after theworld wheel-on-rail speed record of515.3 km/h was set in 1990 on thesouth-western section of the TGVAtlantique. The 20 years from 1981 to 2001have seen the progressive opening ofthe TGV Atlantique (1990), the TGVNord Europe (1993), and the TGVMéditerranée (2001), substantiating thereliability of the TGV technologies inactual operations.

This article discusses the high-speedrailway in France with focus on pastdevelopment of the TGV network, thepresent construction of the TGV Est, andfuture prospects based on the Frenchmaster plan for high-speed railwaysadopted in December 2003.

Operating French TGV Network

Technical choicesFrench National Railways (SNCF)started airing the first defining conceptsof high-speed railway in France in 1970with a proposal to construct a new linebetween Paris and Lyon based on threeprinciples: dedicated line for passengertraffic, compatibility with existing

railway network, and high-frequencyoperations with short journey times.These choices proved to be right andmade it possible to reduce the cost ofconstructing new lines, achieve highoperating speeds of 240–270 km/h,optimize capacity of new TGV lines,reduce operating and maintenancecosts of the new lines and rolling stock,and free-up freight capacit ies onexisting conventional lines. All thesefactors contributed to traffic growth andto the increased profitability of thehigh-speed railways.An especially unique feature of theFrench TGV is i ts relat ively lowconstruction costs. The first TGV Sud-Est cost just $4 million per km, the lowestfigure worldwide (Table 1). More recent

Figure 1 TGV High-speed Lines

Mediterranean Sea

DüsseldorfCologneBrussels

Valence

Lyon

Tours

Le Mans

OostendOostendOostendCalaisCalaisCalais

LilleLilleLille

AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam

London

Paris

BogneuxMarne la ValleeMarne la ValleeMarne la Vallee

St-Florentin

Airport CDG

Rennes

Geneva

Namur

BordeauxBordeauxBordeaux

MarseilleMarseilleMarseille

MontpellierAvignon

Toulouse

Nantes

UKNetherlandsNetherlandsNetherlands

Germany

Belgium

Switzerland

Italy

Spain

1994Channel Tunnel

1989–90TGV Atlantique

2001TGV Méditerranée

1981–83TGV Sud-Est

1994–96TGV Paris interconnections

1992–94TGV Rhône-Alpes

1993TGV Nord Europe

Table 1 High-speed LinesConstruction Costs per km

France & Spain US$10 million

Belgium & Germany US$15 million

Italy US$25 million

Netherlands US$53 million

UK US$74 million

Taiwan US$37 million

Korea US$35 million

Japan Railway & Transport Review 40 • March 2005 23Copyright © 2005 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

projects cost about $10 million per kmand the newest TGV Méditerranée withseven long viaducts (17.155 km) and onelong tunnel (12.768 km) still cost only$15 million per km.

French TGV linesThe French TGV network today totals1520 operation-km (Fig. 1) as follows:• TGV Sud-Est (417 km): opened in

1981 (St-Florentin–Lyon Sathonay);142-km extension in 1983 (Combs laVille (Paris)–St-Florentin)

• TGV Atlantique (281 km): opened in1989 (Bagneux (Paris)–ConnerréJunction (Le Mans)); 101-km extensionin 1990 (Courtalain Junction–MontsJunction (Tours))

• TGV Nord Europe (333 km): openedin 1993 for Paris–Lille and Lille–Calais

• TGV Paris interconnections (104 km):opened in 1994; 17-km extension linkin 1996 connecting TVG NordEurope, Sud-Est, and Atlantique

• TGV Rhône-Alpes (121 km): openedin 1992 (Montanay Junction–SatolasAirport); 84-km extension in 1994(Satolas Airport–St Marcel les Valence)

• TGV Méditerranée (251 km): openedin 2001 (Valence–Marseille/Nîmes)

Currently, the 1070 km of unbrokenTGV track running from the ChannelTunnel at Calais in the extreme northof France to Marseille in the extremesouth of France on the MediterraneanSea can be traversed by a TGV train ina little more than 3 hours at 300 km/h.It is also worth noting that all the FrenchTGV lines are interconnected.

TGV Through operations onconventional networkSince the TGV system was designed fromthe start to be compatible with the existingconventional rail network, TGV trains canrun on a much wider network than thededicated high-speed lines (Fig. 2). TheTGV Paris interconnections also enable

Figure 2 TGV Service Network

1994Channel Tunnel

1989–90TGV Atlantique

1981–83TGV Sud-Est

1994–96TGV Paris interconnections

1992–94TGV Rhône-Alpes

1993TGV Nord Europe

BesanconBesancon

BrigBrig

VentmicliaVentmiclia

Aix en ProvenceAix en Provence

PerpignanPerpignan

ArcachonArcachon

La RochelleLa Rochelle

Les Sables d'olonneLes Sables d'olonne

Le CrosicLe Crosic

Brussels

ParisParisParis

NantesNantesNantes

Lyon

GenevaGenevaGeneva

Dijon Besancon

Stetienne

Valence Turin

Milan

Zürich

Brig


Avignon Ventmiclia

Aix en ProvenceMontpellierToulouse

Perpignan


Arcachon

Irun

Tarbes

Le Crosic

Les Sables d'olonne

La Rochelle

QuimperQuimperQuimper

BrestBrestBrest

RennesRennesRennes

2001TGV Méditerranée

to London DunkerqueDunkerqueDunkerqueCalais

RouenLe HavreLe HavreLe Havre

Boulogne

Valenciennes

Figure 3 TGV Times from Paris

Cologne


BrusselsBrusselsBrussels

London

Paris

GenevaGenevaGenevaLyon

Bordeaux


Nantes Tours

Lille

Paris–Lyon (427 km): 1:55

Paris–Marseilles (749 km): 3:00

Paris–Bordeaux (569 km): 2:59

Paris–Tours (223 km): 0:58

Paris–Nantes (387 km): 1:59

Paris–Lille (226 km): 0:59

Paris–Brussels (314 km): 1:25

Paris–London (498 km): 2:40

Paris–Geneva (540 km): 3:30

Paris–Amsterdam (494 km): 4:10

Paris–Cologne (541 km): 4:00

London–Brussels (360 km): 2:20

Brussels–Cologne (227 km): 2:20

Japan Railway & Transport Review 40 • March 200524


Copyright © 2005 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

Table 2 TGV Train Sets

TGV Sud-EstFleet: 110First service: 1981Output: 6420 kWCatenary design: 25 kV/50 Hz + 1500 Vdc + 15 kV/16.7 HzTrain protection systems: TVM 300/TVM 430 + KVB*Renovations in 1996 and 1999

TGV RéseauFleet: 89First service: 1993Output: 8800 kWCatenary design: 25 kV/50 Hz + 1500 Vdc + 15 kV/16.7 HzTrain protection systems: TVM 430 + KVB + TBL + ATB + R54* Of which 10 PBA

EurostarFleet: 31First service: 1994Output: 12,240 kWCatenary design: 750 Vdc + 25 kV/50 Hz + 3000 VdcTrain protection systems: AWS/TPWS + TVM 430 + KVB + TBL* 16 SNCF, 4 SNCB and 11 BR

TGV AtlantiqueFleet: 105First service: 1989Output: 8800 kWCatenary design: 25 kV/50 Hz + 1500 VdcTrain protection systems: TVM 300/TVM 430 + KVB

TGV DuplexFleet: 36First service: 1996Output: 8800 kWCatenary design: 25 kV/50 Hz + 1500 VdcTrain protection systems: TVM 430 + KVB

ThalysFleet: 17First service: 1996Output: 8800 kWCatenary design: 25 kV/50 Hz + 1500 Vdc + 15 kV/16.7 Hz + 3000 VdcTrain protection systems: TVM 430 + KVB + TBL + ATB + Indusi + LZB* 6 SNCF, 7 SNCB, 2 NS and 2 DB AG

(Photos: SNCF)


the TGV to serve the French regionswithout passing through Paris.Moreover, TGV trains can also directlyserve the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands,Germany, Switzerland and Italy.

Trip timesAs shown in Figure 3, the TGV networkhas dramatically changed the geographyof France in terms of trip times from Paris.

TGV Train setsConcurrent with the high-speed lineadvances, SNCF has under takencomprehensive development of TGV trainset designs. The current fleet of 388 trainsets contains five TGV generations,including Eurostar and Thalys, distributedas shown in Table 2.

TGV Success Story

Not only is the TGV a technical success,it is also a commercial success.Since the first commissioning of theTGV in 1981, the TGV traffic volumeh a s i n c r e a s e d c o n t i n u o u s l y a sdifferent TGV lines have come intoservice in the 20 years from 1981 to2001 (Figs. 4 and 5). About 250,000passengers take one of the 600 TGV

trains operating each day; yearly TGVtraffic totals 90 million passengers.By the end of 2003, the TGVs had carrieda total of more than 1 billion passengers,indicating their success as a fast, safe,frequent, comfortable and efficient meansof transport accessible to all.In term of passenger-km and commercialrevenue, TGV traffic comprises about75% of total SNCF main-line traffic.Operation of TGV trains in France and inneighbouring countries (includingEurostar and Thalys services) is a mainprofit centre for SNCF.Experience shows an immediate reactionby the public after a new TGV is opened.Sources of increased traffic are passengerschanging from air and road transport dueto the value added by the TGV in term ofshorter trip times, frequent services, highcomfort and competitive fares.The impact of high-speed rail on airtravel is unquestionable; air routes incompetition with the TGVs have allseen similar drops in volume, especiallyon journeys with a trip time of less than3 hours. The impact on road transportis also clear—indices for traffic showthat motorways in competition withTGVs experience a decrease in trafficgrowth. As an added benefit, the dropin air and road traffic decreases the

negative impact of pollution, etc., on theenvironment due to the environmentfriendly nature of the TGV.

Synergy between TGVand Aeroplanes

France has developed the synergybetween the TGV and air services to agreat degree. For example, two airports—Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)near Paris, and Lyon Saint Exupéry (LYS)—have TGV stations in the airport itself. TheTGV Air service from CDG combinesinternational flights operated by manyairlines and TGV journeys to form aunique trip on a single ticket to thefollowing destinations: Aix-en-ProvenceTGV, Angers, Avignon TGV, BordeauxSaint-Jean, Le Mans, Lille-Europe, LyonPart-Dieu, Marseille Saint-Charles,Montpellier, Nantes, Nîmes, Poitiers,Rennes, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps Tours,Valence TGV. TGV Air is not onlypromoted by SNCF but also by travelagencies and world airlines. In 2004, AirFrance, Air Austral, American Airlines,Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM,Lufthansa and United Airlines were allTGV Air partners, and other airlines areplanning to join.

Figure 4 Annual Growth in TGV Traffic

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011

Pas

seng

ers

(million)

Figure 5 Cumulative TGV Passenger Totals

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 2011

Pas

seng

ers

(million)




TGV Station at Roissy Charles deGaulle AirportThe TGV station in CDG Terminal 2 openedin 1994 to provide a quick and convenientconnection between the train and plane.The station has four floors, offering variousservices, including information points,ticket windows, a bar, a restaurant, moneychanging, car rentals, children’s nursery,showers, washrooms, etc.The TGV services from CDG operate overthe Nord Europe, Sud-Est, Méditerranée,and Atlantique TGV lines, as well as theThalys network. In 2002, the CDG TGVstation handled about 2.5 millionpassengers and this volume is expectedto increase as the airport traffic grows.

View of TGV station and terminals at LYS (SNCF)

View of TGV Station and terminals at CDG (SNCF) TGV Station in CDG (SNCF)

TGV Station in LYS (SNCF)

TGV station at Lyon-SaintExupéry AirportThe TGV station at the heart of LYS openedin 1994. It was designed by the famousSpanish architect M. Santiago Calatrava.The architecture is audacious, combiningan aesthetic landmark exterior withinternal functionality.Since construction of the third airport forthe Paris region was cancelled, LYS has livedup to its ambition to become the secondlargest airport in France. Its trump card isits connection with the expanding Europeanhigh-speed network. This advantage willmake LYS a unique multi-modal transportbase for Europe. Currently, there are about9 million people living within 90 minutesof LYS; by 2015, there will be 21 millionpeople (excluding Paris) living within 2 hours.

In 2002, the TGV station at LYS handled300,000 passengers, a 19% year-on-year increase. This traffic will continuegrowing in the future with additionalTGV trains to the south and south-eastof France and the commercialization ofservices like TGV Air, combining airf l ights with TGV tr ips—a perfectcomplement between train and plane.

TGV East under Construction

After the TGV Méditerranée, the next TGVproject to be opened (in 2007) will be theTGV East from Paris to Strasbourg. Theentire project comprises 406 km of newlines reaching to Vendenheim nearStrasbourg. The first phase, which is


already budgeted for, comprises 300 km,linking Vaires-sur-Marne near Paris toBaudrecourt in the Moselle as well as tothe existing railway network, serving asmany destinations directly without theneed to make a connection.The project also includes improvementsto terminal lines and facilities, especiallybetween the Gare de l’Est station in Parisand Vaires-sur-Marne as well as on theStrasbourg–Kehl main line. Furthermore,the lines through the Vosges valleys willbe electrified ready for the new high-speed trains. Thanks to the East FranceEuropean HSR, Paris will be linked to themajor cities of eastern France, and theeastern regions will be connected to the

Figure 6 TGV Est Journey Times

ZurichBasle

Nancy

Reims

Metz

Mulhouse

Munich

Stuttgart

Karlsruhe

Mannheim

Frankfurt

Strasbourg

Saarbrücken

Châlons-en- Champagne

Luxembourg

Paris–Remiremont: 2:45Meuse region–Lille: 1:45Meuse–CDG: 55 minLorraine–Rennes/Nantes: 3:50Marne la Vallée (Disneyland Paris)–Champagne-Ardenne station: 0:35Paris–Nancy/Metz: 1:30

ParisParisParis0 h 55 min1 h 20 min

3 h 30 min4 h 50 min

with TGV Estwithout TGV Est



2 h 15 min3 h 35 min 1 h 50 min

3 h 45 min











high-speed network serving northern,western and south-western France, givingbirth to a new European network.

Speed and travel timesThe first 300 km linking Vaires-sur-Marneto Baudrecourt in Moselle will supportspeeds up to 350 km/h—commercialoperations will start at 320 km/h. Sometypical journey times are shown inFigure 6.

TGV Est financingThis project was born after many studiesto define a specific financing packageand a route respecting the naturalenvironment and surroundings. As the

first infrastructure project of its kind tobe declared a public utility by theMinistry of the Environment, the EastFrance European HSR line is also the firstrailways to be financed largely by theFrench regions and the European Union(EU). The total cost is about €4 billion(€1 = US$1.20 ) appor t ioned asfollows: 61% public funds (Frenchgovernment, 17 local authorities, EUand Luxembourg); 17% RFF, and 22%SNCF (including €800 million forTGV rolling stock).

Commercial network and trafficforecastWith a 300-km new high-speed line from




Vaires to Baudrecourt and connectionsto conventional lines and the rest of theTGV network, the TGV Est will form acommercial network including 26French and 11 European cities.For the commercial international high-speed services, RHEALYS has beenestablished as a joint venture by CFL(Luxembourg), SNCF (France), DB AG(Germany) and SBB (Switzerland).The project will increase traffic volumesby 66% from 6.9 million passengers to11.5 million.

Future TGV Developments

The Inter-ministerial Committee onTerritorial Planning and Development(CIADT) was held on 18 December 2003.One of the subjects was an ambitiouslong-term (2025) transport plan allowingbetter participation of the French regionsin Europe and the world economy. Theplan has about 50 big projects includingeight TGVs (Fig. 7): Rhine–Rhone(Dijon–Mulhouse); Sud Europe Atlantique(Tours–Bordeaux–Spain); Bretagne–Pays-de-la-Loire; Est (second phase withconnection to ICE network); Catalonia–Italy (Perpignan–Figueras, bypass aroundNîmes and Montpellier, TGV to Nice);Lyon–Turin; Bordeaux–Toulouse; andInterconnection south of Paris.By 2010, the French high-speednetwork will total 2117 km. In thelonger term, the network will totalabout 3500 km. The TGV lines willa l s o e x t e n d i n t o n e i g h b o u r i n gcoun t r i e s ; t he EU ha s r ecen t l y

Figure 7 Long-term Planned TGV Network

Düsseldorf

Cologne


Rotterdam

AntewerpenBrussels

DijonDijonDijon

Lyon

OostendeOostendeOostendeLondon

Paris

Rennes

Geneva

Namur


MarseilleMarseilleMarseilleToulouse

Nantes

Liege

Charleville

Reims Metz

Bar le duc

Upinal

NancyNancyNancy St dié

Remremont

ChChálon lon sur sasur saôneneChálon sur saône

to FrankfurtLuxembourg

Saarbrücken

MulhouseBasel

Zürich

BernLausanne

Brig

Milan

Turin

AnnecyChambChambéryryChambéry

MontmellanMontmellanMontmelian

VentmicliaVentmicliaVentmicliaCannesCannesCannes

ToulonToulonToulon

NiceAntibes

Avignon

MoganeGrenobleValenceStetienne

Laroche migennes

SensMelun

St Pierre des corps

PoitiersFuturoscope

LavalAnglrs

La RochelleLa RochelleLa Rochelle

Les Sables d'olonneLes Sables d'olonneLes Sables d'olonne

La Roche sur yonLa Roche sur yonLa Roche sur yon

La BauleLa BauleLa BauleLe CrosicVannesVannesVannes

Lorient

QuimperSt brieuc

BrestSt Malo

St nazaireSt nazaireSt Nazaire

CherbourgCherbourgCherbourg

Caen

Le mans

Tours

Le HavreLe HavreLe HavreRouen

LensArras

Lille-fLille-fLille-f

DoualValenclnnes

BoulogneBoulogneBoulogne

Ashford CalaisCalaisCalaisDunkerqueDunkerqueDunkerque

Nort

Angouléme

AgenMontauban

Nimes

Béziers

Barcelona

ArcachonArcachonArcachon

PauTarbes

Lourdes Carcassonne NarbonneNarbonneNarbonne

Le PerthusLe PerthusLe Perthus

DaxBayonneBayonneBayonneHendayeHendayeHendaye

IrunIrunIrun

Munich

Strasbourg

Colmar

High-speed line

Conventional line

Plaine de l'audePlaine de l'audePlaine de l'aude

PerpignanPerpignanPerpignan

MontpellierAix en provence TGV

Valence TGV

Lyon Lyon st exupery st exupery TGVTGV

Lyon st exupery TGV

Macon TGV

Le Creusot TGV

Belfort TGV

Besançon TGV

Vendóme

La vallée chessy

TGV haute picardie

Aéroport cdg TGV

MarneChampagne Champagne arocnnesarocnnesChampagne arocnnes

LorraineMeuse

Lille-e

Avignon TGV

Jean-Pierre Arduin

Mr Arduin is Director Expert Consultant at SYSTRA, the engineering

arm of SNCF and RATP. He joined SNCF in 1975 after graduating

from the Ecole Nationale des Mines and the Ecole Nationale de la

Statistique et de l’Administration Economique. After working mainly

in corporate planning and business administration, he was assigned

to the New Infrastructures and High-Speed Department where he

participated in studies of high-speed corridors worldwide.

Jincheng Ni

Mr Ni is an economist at SYSTRA. After graduating from the University

of Toulouse in 1987 and the Ecole Nationale de la Statitique et de

l’Administration Economique in 1990, he joined SNCF and was

assigned to the New Infrastructures and High-Speed Department.

He is studying urban railways and high-speed corridors worldwide.

adopted technical specifications forinteroperability (TSIs) for the high-speednetwork that are mandatory for new EUhigh-speed lines. Their implementationwill allow the EU to establish a high-speed network, totalling more than12,000 km, integrating the Europeancountries and revitalizing railwaypassenger transport. �

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